He joined in the mid-Eighties at the age of 12, and recently returned to do a coaching internship. So while he knows every corridor and every step of the ladder, he has the vital quality of perspective.

He thinks for a few seconds when asked how the club have managed to produce so many talents.

“That is their culture,” he says eventually. “That’s how they play. That’s how they scout their players. That’s how they train. It’s all about the ball. Technical ability, playing fast, very good in small spaces. It’s the same as Barcelona.”

Ajax have had a lean few runs in Europe – they have not gone beyond the group stage of the Champions League in seven years – but the current crop have immense potential, as long as they can stay out of the clutches of the scouts.

Davids singles out right-back Ricardo van Rhijn for praise. “When I was interning at Ajax last year, he did OK, he wasn’t ready yet, but this year he has come through.”

At the age of 23, after more than a decade at Ajax, Davids moved on, as most of Ajax’s promising youngsters invariably do. If there is one big difference between La Masia and De Toekomst, this is it.

At Barcelona, a strong sense of Catalan identity pervades throughout, tied in with the history and culture of the club: a rounded, character-building experience. At Ajax, football is business, the be-all and end-all.

It could hardly be otherwise. With Ajax unable to compete with the continent’s biggest clubs on a financial footing, they rely on the proceeds of selling their finest young talent.

Sneijder went to Real Madrid for £21 million, Thomas Vermaelen to Arsenal for £10 million, Bergkamp to Inter Milan for £12 million – a scarcely credible sum two decades ago.

“We are not capable of spending large amounts of money on players,” recalled former assistant coach Danny Blind earlier this year, “which means that you have to develop them yourself.”

This businesslike attitude informs the Ajax culture, which is based on long days and grim repetition.

“They educate you how to be a professional,” Davids says. “You go to school, after school you go training, after training you eat, then you have a couple of hours to do your homework, then you go back to training.

"You’re home at nine, and this is your day. The discipline is strict, in every way. You have to be on time, you have to follow the tactics. It was a very autocratic coaching style. If you weren’t doing well at school, you wouldn’t play. That was one of the rules.”

Davids joined Ajax comparatively late. Some children are signed up as early as seven years old, picked out by a network of scouts with its tentacles extended into every district of Amsterdam and beyond.

From the moment they enter the academy, the club keeps a detailed dossier on each of its recruits. Their every minute is mapped out for them, their every move analysed.

Every year, those who fail to make the grade are summarily shown the door. Of an average annual intake, perhaps only one or two will end up making the grade.

The footballing education is equally rigid.

“Everybody in Ajax plays 4-3-3, from seven years old, so they get used to the system,” says Davids. “It’s all about being a total player.

"You can do tactical games with a kid, and they don’t even know it’s tactical. So it already starts when you’re young, but you don’t know it. They’re showing show you where to run, and how, and when, and why.”

There is culture, then, but precious little romance. It is interesting to note the emotionless, dispassionate tone in which Davids talks about his younger days.

Does he not feel a certain loyalty to the club for the education they gave him? “Loyalty? There’s no loyalty in football. What loyalty is there?”

Does he not feel a debt of gratitude to Ajax? “For what?”

For the education, perhaps? Not to mention the happy memories. “Absolutely, but do they feel loyalty towards me?” he retorts, bristling.

“Everyone has an affection for the club where you played in your youth, that’s normal,” he says.

“But loyalty to it? Loyalty is staying at the club. Affection is different. The important thing is that when you’re there, you give it your all, respect the rules and respect the club, and try to be the best you can be. That’s fair enough.”

Davids insists, by the way, that this well of ambivalence is in no way related to his messy departure from the club’s board a year ago after a disagreement with Cruyff.

“That’s business,” he says. And for all the beauty that it produces, De Toekomst remains exactly that – a production line, an economic imperative, a business.

“What I tell them here at Barnet,” Davids says, “is don’t see football as your hobby. If you do, then go somewhere else. This is your job, nine to five. It’s a hobby that you make your profession.”

It is proof that, even two decades on, in an obscure corner of north London, the Ajax ethos dies hard.

Five-star: the best of the Ajax young guns

Ricardo van Rhijn Age 21: defender Enjoying a breakthrough season after Gregory van der Wiel’s injury. Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville are among his admirers.

Daley BlindAge 22: left-back The son of former Dutch international and current national team assistant manager Danny is a versatile defender.

Christian Eriksen Age 20: midfielder

One of the most exciting young playmakers in Europe. Turned down a move to Manchester City in summer 2011.

Siem de Jong Age 23: midfielder The versatile attacking midfielder has drawn comparisons with Jari Litmanen because of his skill and vision. Became captain this season.

Tobias Sana Age 23: winger The Swede did not excel against City, but is an exciting prospect with his pace and dribbling ability.